Tuesday, 25 March 2014

Our exploration
of Algonquin’s wilderness was far from complete, but aware that it could take
several lifetimes to properly explore, and promising ourselves to return one day, we
travelled north to explore and sketch the wilderness area known as Killarney
Provincial Park.

Killarney
Provincial Park is located near to the Village of Killarney situated at the
termination of Hwy 637 on the north shore of Georgian Bay. The village itself
has a rich history dating back to the time of the French fur trade, and later
the exploitation of the area’s natural resources namely fish and timber. With
the natural resources all but depleted now the village, in recent times, has had to
depend largely on the tourist industry to survive.

Tyson Lake Graphite Sketch

We tentatively
explored while learning a bit of the park’s cultural significance. Deciding
that the area near to Willisville, the access area to the west, had been
sufficiently explored by various members of the Group of Seven Painters,
particularly by Frank Carmichael, A.Y. Jackson, Arthur Lismer, and A.J. Casson,
we settled on sketching and painting at the east end of the park. While
deciding we made friends with a couple who rented cabins at Tyson Lake, which is on the way to Killarney, and for
a time divided our time spent in the
area between exploring the park and the area surrounding Tyson Lake.

The Canoe Put-In at Wolf Creek Graphite Field Sketch

We did a lot of paddling on Wolf Creek. The canoe put-in for Wolf Creek was located just across the highway from our cabin. Calling it a creek was a misnomer as in reality Wolf Creek is more a river than a creek that empties into Tyson Lake. At some points it is as much as one hundred metres wide and is deep enough in the middle channel to allow boats with outboard motors to access its length all the way up to Spoon Lake, a distance of several miles. Wolf Creek was a wonderful place to spot wildlife. Once a bear swam across the creek in front of us, and on another occasion we had a wonderful opportunity to observe a family of otters as they cavorted near to our canoe. Definitely take the time to explore Wolf Creek should you have an opportunity to get up to Killarney Provincial Park.

Wolf Creek Graphite Field Sketch

White Pines Wolf Creek Graphite Drawing

Wood Ducks Wolf Creek Graphite Drawing

View From Phil & Theresa Gagnon's Camp - Tyson Lake Graphite Drawing

Tyson Lake Graphite Field Sketch

Common Loons - Tyson Lake Graphite Drawing

Misty Morning - Tyson Lake Graphite Drawing

Sometime ago I did a posting that I believe that was entitled, "Tyson Lake". Should you wish to learn a bit more about our experiences at Tyson Lake and Wolf Creek you might want to bring up some of my older postings. Within this posting was included a number of watercolour sketches and paintings.

I mentioned that we divided our time between Tyson Lake and Killarney Provincial Park. In time, however, we spent more and more time exploring Killarney Provincial Park accumulating a good number of sketches and paintings and went on to produce a book entitled, " IMPRESSIONS - An Artist's Introduction to Killarney Provincial Park. Check it out. Visit the Friends of Killarney gift shop. The cost is only $19.95 and all profits go to support Art in the Park and other park programmes.

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About Me

My name is Ernest Andrew Somers. I’m all grown up now. My hair, what’s left of it, is grey and I’m, as they say, long in the tooth.
What seems like only yesterday, but was really quite a long time ago, I was asked what I was going to be when I grew up. I remember saying that when I grow up I’m going to be an artist. And, you know what? I did become an artist. But it wasn’t as simple as that, there’s more to my story, much more.